Collection: Books and Periodicals > Nevada County Historical Society Bulletins

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Title: Volume 061-4 - October 2007 Collection Type: Books and Periodicals Collection Name: Nevada County Historical Society Bulletins # of Pages: 6 Download PDF: User Login Required Download OCR Text: User Login Required

Date Scanned: 2014-03-12 08:47:48 OCR Software Version #: tesseract 5.4.1 Item Sourced From: PDF First Created: 2025-03-17 04:06:03 Last Updated: 2025-03-17 04:06:03

Original Held At: Searls Historical Library Location: 161 Nevada City Hwy, Nevada City, CA 95959

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blocks instead. By August the cement workers who had the contract to manufacture blocks had produced only half the needed quantity. It wasn’t until September 1906 that Granite Rock was able to resume work with a crew of ten men. Good progress was made until a severe snow storm hit Nevada City and work had to stop. Next, the town was visited by heavy rain that resulted in some minor damage to the building. This was soon repaired, but the delays, and the increased cost of materials, eventually caused the contractor to lose $800 on the Nevada City job. Handsomest Public Building in the County By the end of January 1907 it was hoped that the library was going to be completed soon. The interior was finished except for the tinting of the walls and the tiling of the vestibule floor at the front entrance. The walls of the main floor were sand-finished and would be tinted. The woodwork was slashgrained pine, stained to imitate manila oak, which was a durable finish. The division lines between the three large rooms and the hall were marked by heavy overhanging beams resting upon large ornamental pillars. From the front entrance a twelve-foot staircase led to the main hall, with the vestibule lighted by two “art-glass” windows, one representing the lamp of learning, the other being a scroll, with a pen and a bottle of ink resting upon it. From the elevation on Pine Street, facing the courthouse, the library’s main floor would receive an abundance of light during the day from its forty-six windows, which varied from two to five feet in width. \ Inthe basement were a 13by 14-foot receiving room (delivery entrance), a dumb-waiter for lifting books and supplies to the main floor stack-room, the janitor’s room, a fuel room, lavatory and other conveniences. Also on the basement level were three large rooms that were left unfinished, one 20 x 30, a second 20 x 24, anda third 12 x 18, that left space for future expansion. The time required to complete the work of placing and painting cornices and other ornamental work of galvanized iron on the exterior depended on the weather, which would turn out not to be cooperative. By this time the last of the funding from the Carnegie bequest was about to run out. There would be no money left to furnish the building, including bookcases, carpets, desks, chairs, tables and electrolliers (fixtures, usually pendant from the ceiling, for holding electric lamps). Mr. Seay, the superintendent of construction, told the library trustees in early February that if the present weather held he could complete the remaining work and turn the library over to them by March 1. He explained that the project had been more than a challenge from the very beginning, beam cause of “numerous unthinkable obstacles.” The San Francisco earthquake had caused snowball effects that delayed the arrival of building materials, and competent labor was not to m be had, at any price, for months after the disaster. He explained that building materials headed for California had been NCHS Bulletin October 2007 The library about 100 years ago. (Searls Library photo.) ordered from all over the nation and this had caused a congestion of freight cars on the railroads. Building supplies from the East were lost in transport, and when supplies finally arrived they were so mixed up, or incomplete, that they could not be used until additional supplies were ordered and received. A prominent local businessman suggested to Frank Nilon that the people could help furnish the library by having a “shower” for its benefit sometime during the spring. Nilon liked the idea and brought it to the library board, telling its members that some local women had offered to do everything in their power to make such an event a success. At last the new Carnegie library building was finished and turned over to the trustees by Mr. Seay, and accepted by them at the end of July. The “old” public library on Broad Street was closed on September 21, and its books were moved to the new building in the following week. The Opening and Donation Shower The ladies of the community were busy completing arrangements and decorations for two receptions planned for Friday, October 4th. Mrs. Lizzie S. Naffziger was the chairman of the 8-11:00 o’clock evening reception, and Mrs. Hattie P. Buffington chaired an afternoon reception. At both receptions there were programs as well as a “shower,” at which donations of money, furniture, books, etc., were accepted. Many more books were still needed; especially ‘“fiction books of better class,” which had been very popular with patrons of the old library. The event was attended by hundreds of people, many from Grass Valley, who were liberal in their donations for the shower. Personal donations were many, and so were gifts from community organizations. The Knights Templar of Nevada Commandery donated twelve elegant antique chairs to match the interior furnishings; the Shakespeare Club donated matching chairs, a desk and a table; the Native Daughters of Laurel Parlor furnished a rug for the library floor. The largest single donation at the shower was that of the Nevada City Lodge of Elks, who gave $100. Not to be forgotten was the donation of the Native Sons of Hydraulic Parlor, who several years before had given $250 when the library was first proposed, and the Odd Fellows Oustomah Lodge, which at the outset had offered its complete library.